by: Chris Sullivan
Well, holy crap. We actually won. Here is my quick breakdown of the good, bad, and ugly:
The Good
- The players gave Mike Holmgren the exciting victory that he deserved at his home finale.
- The offensive line (the "8Us and a V"--Williams, Womack, Vallos, Wrotto, and Willis) played incredibly well. Williams had a few mental lapses, but that is to be expected in his first start, especially considering he wasn't on an NFL squad until a few weeks back. Womack continued his strong play, Vallos continued making an argument for going with him over Spencer next year, and Wrotto continues to grow as a player. Willis is no surprise, but always fun to watch. Bottom line: ZERO SACKS and a 100 yard rusher.
- Seneca Wallace--I think I said he would need over 60% completion and no more than 1 interception . . . well, he had 72% completion percentage and 0 interceptions. He played very well, with a lot of poise and composure throughout.
- The defensive line stopped the AFC's top rusher and put a lot of pressure on Favre even when they weren't blitzing. Add to it that there was a lot of strong blitzing and good play in the secondary (Wilson had the two picks, but Grant played well and Trufant played very well).
- Special teams played well, especially on coverage against one of the premier returners in the league in Leon Washington. The same can be said for the Jets, however, but hey, they only gave Wilson two shots to return it . . . heh heh . . .
- We held a 9-5 team with everything on the line to 3 points. Like, for the whole game. Total.
The Bad
- Nothing has gotten better for this team (things have gotten worse, if anything) yet the last three weeks they have proven the sort of mettle of which they are actually made. It's a shame that Holmgren's final season imploded like it did.
The Ugly
- Conflicted Hawk fans were torn as to whether to root for a win or a better draft pick. That's tough, and it makes a fan feel a little bit dirty, doesn't it? I personally don't root against us but I don't really care if others do. Still, from my assessment the worst pick we can realistically get is #7 and the best is #5 at this point. Mays, Oher and Crabtree are all still very strong possibilities to be found in that range. Andre Smith probably won't creep that far back, but hey, such is life.
Needless to say, I'm feeling very good about this game and this win. Thanks to all the Seahawks who busted their asses to beat a "better" team today and show the fans that they have fight left and can be competitive next year and in years to come. Game balls: John Marshall on defense for finally putting together a defensive strategy that can beat an NFL football team; on offense, the entire offensive line for playing great with special mention to Kyle Williams and Mansfield Wrotto; Jon Ryan on special teams for some good kicking. Oh, and Lifetime Achievement Gameball to Mike Holmgren!
|